CVE-2025-48243 in reCAPTCHA for all Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/19/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Bill Minozzi reCAPTCHA for all allows Cross Site Request Forgery. This issue affects reCAPTCHA for all: from n/a through 2.26.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2025
This cross-site request forgery vulnerability resides within the Bill Minozzi reCAPTCHA for all plugin, affecting versions ranging from n/a through 2.26. The flaw represents a critical security weakness that permits malicious actors to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users who visit compromised web pages. The vulnerability operates by exploiting the absence of proper anti-forgery token validation mechanisms within the plugin's request processing flow, allowing attackers to craft malicious requests that appear legitimate to the target system.
The technical implementation of this CSRF flaw stems from insufficient validation of request origins and lack of unique, unpredictable tokens that would normally verify user intent. When users interact with web forms or endpoints protected by the reCAPTCHA plugin, the system fails to adequately authenticate that the request originates from the legitimate user interface rather than from a malicious third-party site. This weakness aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities through the absence of proper origin verification and anti-forgery token mechanisms. The vulnerability creates an attack surface where authenticated users can unknowingly trigger actions such as form submissions, configuration changes, or user account modifications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to encompass potential account takeovers, unauthorized configuration changes, and service disruption. Attackers can leverage this flaw to perform actions like modifying plugin settings, resetting user passwords, or executing administrative functions without proper authorization. The attack typically requires users to be authenticated and browsing a malicious site that triggers forged requests to the vulnerable plugin endpoint. This scenario particularly affects WordPress environments where the reCAPTCHA plugin is installed, creating opportunities for attackers to exploit user sessions and elevate privileges through carefully crafted cross-site requests.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the identified weakness. System administrators must implement proper anti-forgery token validation mechanisms that generate unique, unpredictable tokens for each user session and validate these tokens against every request. The implementation should follow established security practices such as those outlined in the OWASP CSRF Prevention Cheat Sheet, which recommends using synchronizer tokens, origin validation, and proper request handling. Additionally, network-level protections including web application firewalls and request filtering can provide additional defense-in-depth layers. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and monitoring for suspicious cross-site request patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1566, which covers phishing techniques that leverage web application vulnerabilities to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of users, emphasizing the need for comprehensive protection strategies that address both the technical flaw and potential exploitation vectors.